The Little Details: Cake Toppers

True Confessions: I have ants in my pants. I'm antsy for time to keep marching on so I can do all of the things I cannot wait to do. I'm antsy for RSVP's to roll in and my bridal shower and other Wedding Season FUN. 

I've started to delve into some of the smaller details, things that I can totally accomplish and/or decide on now that won't affect anything else. I've started thinking about things like: Do my ladies need flowers, even the silk ones, especially if I myself am carrying a brooch bouquet? Can Pad and Pie scatter petals if there may not be flowers involved elsewhere? Can they scatter petals at our venue, period? I feel accomplished when I address things like this, because it's clearly ahead of time, and also because of how little stress is involved with mulling these things over because it's so ahead of time. It's a total win.

Lately, I've been on a Cake Topper kick. This is one of the small details that is totally back burnered. You know, those things that you place on the potential list, the ones that you want but aren't a priority? I refuse to stress about a cake topper, but it's still fun to peruse pictures and read blogs for inspiration.

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This one melted my freakin' heart. I think it's such a nice, subtle nod to Disney - which we both love (seriously, one night we were up until 3am watching The Little Mermaid, discussing how today's kids are missing out if they're not exposed to the old in addition to the new, as well as the completely underappreciated awesomeness that is Hercules). I also liked that it was classic, not too kitschy or in-your-face. That having been said, I'm definitely more of an all-around Disney fan than Mr. Palm Tree
, so would it be an accurate representation of us? Also, neither of us are big Precious Moments people. I feel like Mr. PT may have once commented on them looking creepy (totes disagree, for the record). My mother collected them when we were growing up and aside from the gazillion Precious Moments coloring books I had back in the day (no, for real: a GAZILLION. Also, true confession: I've totally purchased them for Pad and Pie. They're my favs), I don't really care for them one way or the other. The deciding factor: this figurine costs $70.00. Even if it can be displayed in our home after the wedding, it's so not worth it, because it's not like we'd start collecting them (despite the fact that my heart totally does melt over some of these figurines - I need to stop looking NOW).

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I would totally be lying if I said that a Tinkerbell cake topper didn't come to mind almost immediately. That having been said: it's not a birthday party, it's a wedding. Even though ones like the above are slightly more elegant and elaborate, it's still not exactly right. Plus, what's Mr. Palm Tree supposed to be, Peter Pan? It's fun to look and daydream, though. 

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You may remember the made-up poignancy of the puzzle pieces from previous posts. It's the most accurate, in terms of representing the both of us. It's cute, it's fairly practical, it's not invasive and wouldn't take away from the rest of the cake. I really do love the idea, but something about it doesn't click for me. I'm a very instinctual and emotional person; I totally rely on gut feelings and while I love looking at this, I just don't see it on our cake. Plus, I feel like I'd have to somehow add other puzzle pieces into the picture for it to 'fit' - not that we're going with some universal theme, but if there isn't any mention/sighting of them elsewhere, they'd just seem a little odd perched atop a pretty cake. Furthermore, they're $75.00 and although I suppose I could DIY them (aka try to enlist someone to do so), I've already said I refuse to stress about a cake topper and adding a whole other project would totally incite stress.

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This picture was drawn by Mr. Palm Tree via MSPaint years and years ago - I'm talking it was on MySpace, we were in high school years ago. I don't remember exactly why he did it, I just remember turning on my computer one day and it was the background picture. It's the little things like this that he does that still make me catch my breath after almost a decade of being together; my favorite color is purple, so he put me in the purple dress, I used to have multi-colored hair, so he made sure to put streaks of red and brown in there. . . anyway. I had toyed with the idea of having someone (potentially Pad and Pie's mom, who went to culinary school and has mad skillz, or one of my co-workers who also possesses the same skillz) create a topper of sorts, perhaps out of fondant. It's a cute idea and I'm still not 100% against it, but if someone were to take the time and effort to create something that truly resembled the above, I'd want it to have staying power and be able to be proudly displayed, you know? Not only because of their hard work, but because of how much I'd inevitably love it. 

Then, I found a link to our cake creator's website. Our cake is included in the package at our venue (thank goodness), but it never dawned on me that our creator would have her own website. Lo and behold, she does and lo and behold, I stalked.

image via WeddingCakes By Brenda

Now, I'm not saying that any of the above are perfect for our wedding, but looking at them made me realize that they wouldn't exactly be missing something without a cake topper. These cakes are still freaking fabulous and the intricate detail is impressive and stunning - I almost feel like a cake topper may take away from their splendor.

I've reached a conclusion: I don't care. I care to look and peruse pictures, I care to daydream and envision the pictures, but overall? So not a big deal. I've decided that I'll continue to look and if something really grabs me, that may change the story, but if not, so what? I am willing to bet that nobody but a recent bride or a fellow bride-to-be would notice its absence - furthermore, I am willing to bet that only a handful of people would notice its presence! I'm pleased with my decision and also my ability to remain level-headed in this aspect: not once did I start to waver or think that I NEEDED a cake topper because I'm SUPPOSED to have one.

Any other brides-to-be put this much thought into their cake topper situation, only to essentially nix it? Anyone care to weigh in on the options?